There’s a been a whole lot of The Mountain Goats news lately, in both past and present form. After releasing 22nd studio album Jenny From Thebes last fall, John Darnielle and the dudes reissued 2000 album The Coroner’s Gambit in June via Merge Records, setting up a short burst of North American dates that brings the band and Field Medic to Citizens House of Blues tonight (August 1).
Here’s what Darnielle has to say about the reissue: “There are few records in the Mountain Goats catalog that are closer to my heart than The Coroner’s Gambit. It bears a sonic thumbprint shared by none of its brethren (Panasonic RX-FT500, Marantz PMD-222, and sessions in Omaha probably recorded to a Tascam Porta-One) and while two of those sources appear on several later releases, none of the other records really sound like it.”
He adds: “Although it contains exactly no autobiographical songs, it feels personal to me — intimate, diaristic. I have vivid memories of the songs I wrote and recorded in Colo, and foggy memories of the Greyhound trip to & from Omaha. I was taking Greyhounds across midwestern state lines to record songs with friends when I made The Coroner’s Gambit, is what I’m saying. You can maybe hear the exhaust of the Greyhound in the songs if you listen close.”
We’ll be up against the rail for the live experience.
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS + FIELD MEDIC :: Thursday, August 1 at Citizens House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m., all ages, $49.50 to $69.50 :: Event info :: Advance tickets